Blue Danube tour of Germany & Austria

Day 1: Vienna/Korneuburg

Afternoon check in and afterwards Merlijn will set sail. We’ll present you with a welcome drink and introduce the crew. We will also provide information on the tour and the ship,  and offer you a safety briefing. After you’ve got familiar with the ship, your dinner will be served, and following your meal, you can take a stroll or enjoy a relaxing evening in the cosy lounge. Merlijn will be docked for the night. We heartily recommend spending a few days in Vienna prior to joining the ship. Baroque streetscapes and imperial palaces set the stage for Vienna's artistic and musical masterpieces, alongside its coffee house culture and vibrant epicurean and creative scene. Don’t forget to eat a traditional ‘Sacher Torte’ during your stay. A day trip to the Slovakian city of Bratislava is also within close range, and is certain to make your cultural heart beat faster.

Day 2: Korneuburg – Tulln. Bike tour: 30-35 km - or shorten to 25 km

Breakfast will be served in the restaurant, followed by a bike introduction. You’ll cycle your first miles on Austrian ground along the popular classic ‘Donau Radweg’. It will lead you through mostly rural areas today, which are a dream for every cyclist. Just before arriving at the Merlijn in Tulln, you can visit the ‘Garten Tulln’, an attraction for gardening enthusiasts. The city is often referred to as the ‘city of flowers’ because of its botanical garden and abundance of parks. It’s also the hometown of the influential painter Egon Schiele. Tonight dinner will be served on board, and afterwards you can take a stroll through the town, as we’ll be staying overnight.

Day 3: Tulln – Durnstein/Rossatz. Bike tour: 50-55 km

There’s a long ride planned for today. You’ll leave Tulln behind you, and bike to the first pearls of the Wachau Valley: Krems and Stein. The tour will lead you mostly along the peacefully flowing Danube, which you can admire perfectly from the saddle of your bike. After visiting these beautiful towns, you will cross the bridge to find Merlijn in Durnstein/Rossatz, where we will stay overnight. After dinner, we will organize a wine tasting session at a local winery.

Day 4: Durnstein/Rossatz – Overnight dock. Bike tour: 45-50 km

The next two days are jam-packed with highlights! Today’s tour will start after breakfast, with a first stop in another pearl of the “Wachau Valley”: Dürnstein. Take the small roofed stairs at the water's edge and you'll arrive in the heart of the town. Dürnstein is not only known for its beautiful buildings, but also for the castle above the town where Richard I of England, yes, the Lionheart,  was once imprisoned. You will then follow the Danube further upstream and into the ‘Wachau Valley’. This area (German pronunciation: va-xau) is an Austrian valley with a picturesque landscape formed by the River Danube. Overloaded with castles and ruins, as well as urban architecture and vineyards, it is one of the most prominent tourist destinations of Lower Austria, appealing to ‘connoisseurs and epicureans’ due to its high quality wines. The Wachau was incorporated into the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in December 2000 as ‘Wachau Cultural Landscape’, in recognition of its architectural and agricultural history.

After cycling 2/3 of today’s tour, you’ll arrive at the stunning city of Melk. After a short visit, you’ll walk to ‘Stift Melk’, set high above the Danube. Here, you will enjoy an included guided tour to learn more about this blockbuster abbey fortress. Together with the city of Melk, this undoubtedly forms the high point of any visit to the region. The day ends with an overnight stay in a small Austrian town. Enjoy this peaceful area and the calm Danube with a drink in the spacious lounge, or on the comfy terrace.

Day 5: Overnight dock – Grein. Bike tour: 35-40 km or extend to 50-55 km

Today’s cycle tour will start in the morning, just after departure you can choose the longer or shorter ride of the day. Meeting the group again in Persenbeug, which is an old shipping town strategically situated next to the river, with a castle atop of it, and certainly worth a short visit. It is also home to a shipping lock and hydro-electric power plant. This plant is the oldest power station in Austria, and almost supplied the entire nation when it was built in 1950. After the visit you’ll cycle on, following the meandering Danube along the area called ‘Strudengau’, a narrow 25km valley along the Danube. Your tour ends in Grein, a picturesque town situated in a small bay at the exit of the ‘Strudengau’. Today, you will be offered a tour of ‘Schloss Greinburg’, a beautiful palace with a stone theatre. Dinner will be served on board.

Day 6: Grein – Linz. Bike tour: 35-40 km + 5 km optional

Enjoy another cruising breakfast, while the captain navigates Merlijn up streams the Danube. We’ll reach a dock where your bike tour begins and soon Mauthausen will be in sight. Mauthausen is notorious for its WWII Nazi concentration camp situated just a few kilometres from the city, that can be visited. It’s an additional 5 km ride there and back. From here you will enjoy the beautiful scenery while cycling on to Linz, where Merlijn awaits you.

“It all begins in Linz” the Austrian saying goes, which is spot on, as Linz is a city on the move, with its finger firmly on the pulse of the nation’s tech industry. Around the main square are many historically relevant and architecturally interesting houses, such as the old Town Hall.

West of the main square, there is the old quarter with many other historic buildings, such as Renaissance houses, or older houses with a baroque facade. In the evening, you can explore more of Austria’s culture in this vibrant city.

Day 7: Linz – Passau. Bike tour: 35-40 km or extend to 55-60 km

The captain will start the engines early, because we have a long way to go until the tour’s destination of Passau! Breakfast will be served while sailing further up the River Danube. Starting the last cycling day you’ll pass by Brandstatt and Aschach, typical Austrian towns where you might want to stop at a cafe for a short visit – if only to try the Austrian ‘Kaiserschmarrn’ dessert: a sweet that goes exceptionally well with coffee, and takes its name from the Austrian emperor (Kaiser) Franz Joseph I, who was very fond of this kind of fluffy shredded pancake. A most interesting tour along the ‘Schlögener Schlinge’ awaits you, where the Danube makes several bends that have been sculpted through the mountains over millions of years. At Schlögen, skills permitting, you can bike or hike up to the ‘Schlögener Blick’ viewpoint, from where you can see the sharpest bend, which locals have named ‘The natural wonder of upper Austria’.

From here you’ll have two options: either board Merlijn to spend your last afternoon cruising aboard the ship, or continue biking, and board Merlijn later on. From there, we’ll leave Austria behind us and cruise together into Germany, since we’ll pass the border on the way to Passau. In the evening a farewell diner will be served.

Day 8: Passau

Later this morning, it will be time to say goodbye and continue your European trip or leave for the airport. If you choose to continue your holiday, Passau is a good place to spend a few more days. Explore the three rivers by boat and enjoy the evening with a walk through the old town or a visit to Veste Oberhaus opposite. From 1867, the castle served as a penal institution, but today, it is home to the town museum, which has numerous permanent and special exhibitions. From the terrace, you’ll have a wonderful view of the old town of Passau and the confluence of the three rivers.